Blog Stats

Here are the best non-UFC fighters. This shows where the UFC is stacked and where they lack. There competition is mainly in Affliction at heavyweight and DREAM at lightweight. Here are the best non-UFC guys that the UFC should look to sign if possible.

·Brett Rogers was impressive with his striking and quick KO of Jon Murphy and I think Kimbo will be up next for him.I’d like to see that fight.

·Joey Villasenor looked far superior than Phil Baroni and could be a serious contender

·Gina Carano unfocused and under trained is still one of the best women fighters in the world

·Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith had an exciting fight going on

·Kimbo Slice proved he can be a MMA fighter.I don’t think he was great, but he showed some ground game, he had a good reversal or two.Most of all I liked that he said afterwards that he knew he had a lot to learn.He is a work in progress, but showed he is a serious MMA fighter.I don’t have a problem with that stoppage as I think Thompson was on his way out.

·I thought the commentators did a pretty good job, and I liked the way Frank Shamrock covered the MMA basics for potential new viewers

The Bad:

·I thought the show was tasteless.From the nasty dancers who I have no idea why they were there, to the Busta Rhymes performance.Phil Baroni led the way in tastelessness with his entrance.He showed exactly what mixed martial arts is not about.I was sickened by him coming in dancing with women dancing all around hum while they rubbed him down.And could someone please tell me what was with all the fat guys in red after Rogers’ win.It was way showier than I would have liked.Joey Villasenor said in his post fight interview that Baroni was a good entertainer and I think he is right.What a difference in how the two took the fight in their own minds, and look who won.I would have liked more focus on the fights and less talk and less show.

·I thought the stoppage of the Laweler/Smith fight was sad.Yes, I think Smith was doomed to be KO’d as Lawler was starting to pick him apart, but that stoppage nearly ruined the night.I wanted to see it finish.I think the stoppage was premature and Smith could have continued.

·Gina Carano, although she looked good needs to decide what she wants to do with her life.She spent a lot of time videoing American Gladiators and too little time training.If she trains more she will be dominant.

·I didn’t like that Gary Shaw seemed to have his thumb on everything.He stood over every fighter’s shoulder during every interview

·Did anyone else notice that the former UFC sponsor “Mickeys” was a sponsor at this EliteXC event.

The Ugly:

·James Thompson’s ear.That thing was nasty before the fight can you imagine it now?I would have to get that thing fixed somehow.

·When the fans were booing the Lawler/Smith fight I was frustrated.What a sorry bunch of fans!They must not know anything about MMA, that was shaping up to be a great fight.There was great action and good striking.

·The bottom line is that this show came nowhere near a UFC show and proved to me that UFC is far superior to EliteXC.I argued constantly that EliteXC could compete with the UFC and now I am proven wrong and I will go eat crow.They emphasized the show to the loss of the fights; they could have gone quicker and showed an undercard fight.They could have pulled Phil Baroni aside and taught him that this is Mixed Martial Arts and now a Wrestling league.

·Overall, I think the show was only so-so.I thought there were a few good fights and some good KO’s.There was some good stand up fights, but I would have liked to see some technical ground fighting and jiu jitsu on display for America and MMA newcomers to see.I thought the lack of class of the dancers, Baroni, and Rogers’ big boy posse proved that point and I am sure left a bad taste in some people’s mouths.People will now think of WWE when they think of MMA.I would like to see different guys next time like Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Antonio Silva, or Paul Daley.In other words, EliteXC on CBS I made it, but not as grand as it could have been.

Gary Shaw had to set this match knowing that James Thompson may be the perfect guy for Kimbo to beat. Thompson has lost three of his last four fights via knockout in round 1. Kimbo hits hard and will come at him. I don’t expect this to be much of a fight, but I expect it to be exciting and I expect Kimbo to win. EliteXC needs Kimbo to win. A Kimbo loss on their CBS debut would hurt them. He needs to win and win by TKO and in doing so win the fans over. Kimbo is the hope of EliteXC. He has star power. Dana White of the UFC has asserted thta Kimbo is overrated and that even lightweight champ B.J. Penn could beta Kimbo. I don’t know about that, but B.J. boxing did look good. I still think Kimbo wins by TKO in round 1.

Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith

I like Robbie Lawler. He is a good fighter and can hang with the best middleweights in the world. His only losses are to quality guys. He lost to Jason Miller, Nick Diaz and Evan Tanner. He does have one loss to Pete Spratt. Lawler wins via TKO most of the time and I doubt this will be any different. Scott Smith is not bad, but he isn’t Robbie Lawler. Lawler has beaten much better guys. Of course that doesn’t mena anything when they get into the ring. Smith struggled in the UFC going 1-3. I don’t expect Smith to be able to hang with Lawler. This is a title fight and Lawler is a champ. I predict Lawler by TKO in round 3.

Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni

Phil Baroni is overrated. He struggled in the UFC and did fair in PRIDE. Not much to this fight. It will be intense, but I predict Villasenor by unanimous decision.Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young

I don’t know much about women fighters. I do know Carano is good. She could be a star of women’s fighters. My worry is she could be too concentrated on American Gladiators to train much. I still think Carano will win by submission in round 2.

Brett Rogers vs. Jon Murphy

Gary Shaw said that EliteXC will have a heavyweight title in 2008. It very well could be the winner of this fight vs. the winner of the Kimbo vs. Thompson fight will get the chance to square off for the first EliteXC heavyweight title. Brett Rogers is a sort of brawler who wins most fights by KO. I think this will be the same and it would be a good match to see Rogers vs. Kimbo. I pick Rogers to beat Murphy by KO early in round 1.